The chains attached to the three of them began to move, rattling faintly as they pulled back into the abyss below. In just a few moments, they were gone.
I stood there, staring at them.
Steve, North, and Primus were motionless now, heads hanging low, their bodies still trembling slightly from whatever force had just taken control of them. The corruption that had spread through their veins moments ago began to fade on its own, the dark mist retreating as if it had never been there. Seeing that, I stopped pushing Essence through my body and let my Psynapse calm.
Silence filled the space around us. The heavy air that had pressed down during the possession slowly lifted, though the chill it left behind refused to go away.
I walked closer, scanning their conditions. They were unconscious, not dead. That much, at least, gave me relief.
With a wave of my hand, I lifted them gently and placed them down on the cracked path. Then I sat between them.
My thoughts were a mess, too many questions, too many half-truths spinning inside my head. But among all of it, one thing burned brighter than the rest: the mention of my parents.
He knew about them. The thing inside Steve, whoever or whatever it was, had spoken their names as if he had seen them, as if he had been there when they disappeared. He said he could protect their souls. He said he knew where they were.
The idea made my chest tighten. I clenched my fists unconsciously. For so long, I had been chasing only the hope that they will be okay. But this was different. This was someone who knew .
A new fire lit inside me even clearer than before. My goal had always been to grow stronger, to find answers, to uncover truth. Now it was personal again.
My gaze drifted toward the abyss where the chains had vanished. Whatever those chains were, they weren’t just physical bindings. They felt alive, like extensions of something ancient and intelligent, something that didn’t belong to the System.
And that was what truly unsettled me.
The being that spoke through Steve claimed he had created the Null Core. That meant it wasn’t a natural formation or a gift from the System like I’d once believed, it was made, crafted deliberately by him with will and purpose.
I remembered the moment I first obtained it. Back then, I thought it was just another anomaly, a side effect of my Essence. But if what he said was true... then the System itself might not fully understand it.
That realization changed everything.
The Null Core had always reacted differently compared to other artifacts, it merged with my talent, adapted, evolved. It wasn’t just a tool. It was alive in its own way. And now, knowing that someone had built it, sacrificed something for it, made it feel heavier in my hands.
Whoever that being was, he had power far beyond anything the System could measure. To create something like the Null Core... to shape realms... to speak through another person’s body so easily, it was proof that there existed powers above what I understood.
And yet, despite the unease, I felt a strange kind of resolve settle in my chest.
If beings like him existed, then so did the truth I was searching for. So did my parents’ souls. And no matter what stood in the way, be it the System, the Eternals, or whatever that entity was, I would find them.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a faint groan beside me. It was Primus. His body twitched, and his eyes snapped open suddenly. The moment he saw where he was, he gasped and jumped to his feet, breathing heavily like someone waking from a nightmare.
He looked completely disoriented, his eyes darting around the area before he began touching his arms, chest, and face, as if trying to confirm he was real.
"What happened?" I asked, watching his panicked movements.
He exhaled sharply, the tension in his shoulders slowly easing as he looked around again and spotted Steve and North lying unconscious nearby.
He muttered something under his breath and then slumped back down beside me, rubbing his temples. After a moment, he ruffled his hair roughly, then even gave himself a light slap on each cheek.
"You alright?" I asked again, still unsure what to make of his strange behavior.
He groaned and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "So... the chain got me as well, huh?"
I nodded silently.
"Fiery hell, damn it." He cursed, shaking his head. "That was... that was a messed-up illusion."
"An illusion?" I asked, frowning.
He sighed and nodded. "Yeah. One moment I was standing here, with you, and then suddenly....bam....I was somewhere else entirely. I was a demoness, and these pot-bellied demons were chasing me around like maniacs." He rubbed his face, shuddering slightly at the memory.
"They caught me, and just before things could get worse... I woke up. Thank the System for that."
I raised an eyebrow, unsure if I should laugh or feel concerned. "So you were trapped in an illusion, and you don’t remember anything that happened here?"
"Nothing," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "It was like my mind was pulled out and dumped somewhere else. When I woke up, it felt like I’d been gone for days."
His words made me glance at Steve and North, still lying motionless on the ground. Their breathing was calm, but I could sense faint distortions in their Essence flow, unstable, just like Primus’s when he first woke.
"So, they’re still in the illusion," I muttered under my breath.
Primus shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe their minds are fighting it still. Either way, they’ll wake up eventually."
I wasn’t planning to wait that long. I raised my hand and gathered Essence, letting it hum softly around my fingers before flicking it toward the two of them. The threads of violet energy snaked into their bodies, spreading quickly through their internal channels.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then both of them twitched. Steve groaned first, his hand clenching against the ground. North followed a second later, a faint whimper escaping her lips as her eyes fluttered open.
Primus and I both leaned forward.
Steve blinked rapidly, disoriented. "What... what happened?" His voice was hoarse, and he looked around, confused.
North didn’t speak. She sat up slowly, clutching her head with both hands, her breathing uneven.
I didn’t answer immediately. I was still watching the faint remnants of crimson flicker behind their eyes. It was fading, yes but it was still there, faint traces of whatever had taken control of them moments ago.
"You’re both safe," I said finally. "The chains are gone."
Steve looked up at me, uncertain, then at the spot where the chains had once been. He exhaled deeply, tension leaving his shoulders as realization sank in.
North lowered her hands and glanced toward the abyss below, her eyes still reflecting confusion and faint traces of fear. "It felt so real," she whispered. "Like... I was someone else."
Primus let out a short, humorless laugh. "Join the club. I just lived an entire nightmare as a demoness being chased by ugly monsters."
That earned him a tired glare from North, but even she didn’t have the strength to argue. She just rubbed her temples, her expression heavy with exhaustion.
"What happened here?" she finally asked. "Were you also affected by the chain?"